Agenda item

Mrs S Abbott, Head of Performance and Information Management, Mrs M Robinson, Management Information Service Manager, and Mr A Mort, Policy Manager, were in attendance for this item.

1.         Mrs Abbott introduced the summary outturn and the new dashboard design, which is a new model for reporting a wider range of performance information than previously.  Future dashboards will include results from users’ surveys, and the monitoring of adult services will reflect the transformation process.

2.         Mrs Abbott, Mrs Robinson, Mrs Tidmarsh and Mr Ireland responded to comments and questions from Members, and the following points were highlighted:-

a)         the target for the number of people being provided with an enablement service has been increased, and as a result the number of cases will appear as a lower percentage of the new target. The demand for enablement has actually dropped in the last year as more people take up short-term beds in residential homes and increase their use of step-down services.  The change in enablement patterns reflects changing patterns in other service areas and will be affected by the way in which other services are commissioned;

b)         the ‘current position’ shown in Appendix B of the report is early in the financial year, and the number of people taking up a personal budget and/or a direct payment is on track to meet the target for the end of the current financial year.  Personal budgets were introduced for new clients first, and focus will then move to transferring existing clients to personal budgets, so a large rise is expected before the end of the current financial year; 

c)         Members reiterated a concern, expressed before when talking about personal budgets and direct payments, that clients should never be pressured into taking up something against their will;

d)         the percentage of child safeguarding referrals going on to initial assessment is high but expected not to increase further, as more will be resolved at an earlier stage, and some proceed directly to a child protection investigation;

e)         the percentage of child safeguarding case file audits judged adequate or better is lower than desired but will improve as the measures put in place in the Improvement Plan become embedded;

f)          the percentage of children becoming the subject of a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time, or being the subject of a Plan for 2 years or more, will be more accurate when the picture for a whole year is available.  The figures shown are for a two-month period only;

g)         the three indicators referred to in d), e) and f) above are key areas of concern, which will be closely monitored.  The new Central Referral Unit will contribute to improving performance in these areas.  The number of children subject to a Child Protection Plan one year ago was very high, and as the Improvement Plan measures are worked through and become embedded, progress will be shown in an improvement of these figures;

h)         take-up of short breaks for older people and their carers has been good since the award of the new contract and is expected to increase as the range of options for arranging them broadens; and

(i)         Members commented on the presentation of the figures and asked for future dashboard pages to be presented in colour to make the Red/Amber/Green columns clearer and easier to use. It would also be useful to know more than just the last ‘previously reported results’ so a longer-term pattern can be seen.   It was agreed after the meeting that the Democratic Services Officer would contact Members to seek views on points of presentation for future reports.

3.         Mrs Whittle responded to a question about the recruitment of agency staff and the drive to reduce the number of LAC by giving an assurance that the £2.7m of funding allocated will have a significant impact, both on the number of LAC and the length of time they stay in care. She reassured Members that Kent’s LAC population, although a concern, and still larger than desired, is now close to the national average. A report on various aspects of Children’s Services, including this issue and early intervention and prevention, will be considered at this Committee’s September meeting.

4.         RESOLVED that the information set out in the report and given in response to comments and questions be noted, with thanks, and a report on this and other aspects of Children’s Services be considered at this Committee’s September meeting.